Generations
by Corcey
Summary: The aftermath of a teenaged pregnancy. After Sam looses her job, Freddie thinks it would be better for them to move in with his mother. Seddie stuff but mostly family stuff.
1. Chapter 1

Sam's POV

"Shhh! Shhh! Come on, baby, shut up." I was holding the squabbling, crying Ian in my arms. It was one in the morning, Freddie just got home an hour ago from the late shift on the plant and I was tired as hell from busing tables all day for minimum wage just to get fired at the end of the day.

"I don't think he'll respond to 'shut up'" Freddie noted while sitting at the rickety table, bills spread out in front of him.

"Shut up Freddie," I said, still rocking the baby. He went back to the finances. I didn't know what gave me a worse headache, dealing with a screaming baby or dealing with the very little money and very big bills.

A bang on the door added to that headache. "Shut that baby up! God!" We have such good neighbors (not).

"I'm trying!" I yelled at Mrs. Megally but that caused Ian to scream louder.

"Come on baby. Shhh." I tried to soothe him but he was a stubborn one. Finally, Freddie decided he had enough and got up.

"Give him to me," he said with his arms out.

"No. I'm determined to calm him."

"Give him to me, Sam," he said. He had gotten braver since Ian was born. I didn't know if I liked that or not.

More banging. "Shut that damned kid up!"

I sighed and handed him over. After a few moments of hushing in his ear, Ian was fast asleep! Freddie is the only one who could get him to sleep. I would try for hours and he could get his eyelids closed within a minute or less. _I'm_ his mother. I should be the one to get him to sleep.

He gave Ian back to me and I gently put him into his crib. I turned around and Freddie was looking at me with tired, baggy eyes.

"What?" I snapped in a whisper.

"We're screwed," he whispered back.

I exhaled slowly. "Let's go to bed."

"Why'd you get fired?" he asked, his back now turned to me as he straightened out the bed sheets on our tiny bed in our tiny one-room apartment building.

"That scumbag Mr. Simmons apparently warned me twice before about stealing the other girls' tips. I mean, come on, most of the girls are just saving up for makeup or a new car or something. None of them have a baby to take care of!"

"Shhh…" Freddie warned me with his index finger on his lips and his eyes on the crib just a few feet away. "I don't know what we're going to do. The landlord said if we don't pay him all the rent we owe him by the end of the month, he's going to evict us."

"Well… I don't know what to do. It's not like jobs are just falling from the sky."

Freddie sighed, "I don't think we're going to be able to stay in Seattle anymore."

"But where are we supposed to go? And you can't leave your job, then we'll both be out of work!" I said, getting into the bed.

There was a long silence. Freddie turned off the light (which had a tendency of blinking a lot) and got into bed with me. The only light shining now was from the streetlight across the street. I could see his silhouette but he stayed so still and so quiet that I thought he had fallen asleep.

He finally spoke, which startled me a little bit (only a little bit I swear). But _what_ he said startled me a whole lot more. "We could move in with my mother."

"What?" I shot up from bed and immediately regretted what I said because the baby started crying again.

Freddie got up because he knew if I tried to put the baby back to sleep again it wouldn't get done until Ian fainted from exhaustion and the neighbors pounded holes into our door.

"We can't move in with that crazy lady!" I insisted in a whisper while Freddie rocked the baby and hummed in his ears. "I will not subject my baby to any more minutes than absolutely necessary with that woman!"

Freddie ignored me and continued to hum in the baby's ear. I stood there, trying to think about other options that we had other than asking his mother for help. But Carly was in her first semester of college and she was living in the dorms, Spencer had a wife and his own kid to take care of, my mom kicked me out the minute she found out about my pregnancy...

I couldn't move in with Freddie's mother! She _hated_ me. She thinks I conned her son into teenage fatherhood. As if it had been my plan to get pregnant and ruin his life!

Once Ian was asleep again, Freddie finally spoke to me. "We have no other choice. What do you want to do? Be homeless?"

"I'd rather be on the street than live with your mother! And she might not allow me to move in! She might reject us!"

"That won't happen. It's either she lets all of us stay with her or…"

"Or what?"

"Or… we'll take her grandchild to the homeless shelter with us…" he sighed. "And she would die before she let that happen."

"I can't believe we are even considering this."

"What else do we have to consider? I'm not letting my child be on the streets."

And I did what I thought I would never do. I caved. I caved into Freddie's request.

"Fine," I said sourly.

_A/N Reviews make me happy! Please make me happy!_


	2. Chapter 2

Mrs. Benson's POV

I was just about to dust for the second time. Everyone needs to dust at least twice every other day. You don't want your baby or your baby's baby coming over and sneezing or getting an allergic reaction from the particles.

Speaking of my baby and my little grandson, I should visit them again. I don't work until the late shift and I haven't seen my baby Ian for a day and a half. I should go see them in case that girl forgets to clean or feed him.

Then I heard a knock on the door so I went to answer it. And there stood my Freddie holding my Ian right outside my door. That Sam girl was there too.

"Hi mom," Freddie smiled.

"Hello Freddie! This is such a surprise!" I said and took little Ian out of his arms so I could hold him.

"Yeah it is," I heard Sam mumble.

"Mom we need to talk to you," Freddie said.

"What? What about? Freddie, are you guys in trouble? Again?" a million different scenarios popped into my head all involving that Samantha girl doing something wrong. Again. What if she was pregnant again? They could take care of Ian and another baby!

"Mom could we come in?"

"Oh sure! Yeah…" I said and stepped aside for them to come in. "But are you guys in trouble? Sam isn't pregnant again, is she?"

"No, no mom nothing like that." Freddie said as he sat on the couch. Samantha did the same. I just stood up with Ian in my arms, looking at them.

"Mom, Sam lost her job and we can't keep our apartment especially with this economy. So… we were wondering…"

"If we could move in with you," Sam finished for him quickly. I noticed her flinch as if living with me was so terrible. Freddie did it for seventeen years! And it would have been longer if she hadn't had trapped him. At least one good thing came out of this mess: my little angel Ian.

"Of course you and Ian could move in with me, Freddie," I said. "You could take your old room and we can put Ian's crib in there…"

"Are you sure about this mom?" Freddie asked.

"Of course," I nodded. "But where is Sam going to stay?"

"Uh… we were hoping… here?"

"Here?"

He nodded.

"Here? You mean? With us?"

"I'm not leaving my baby with you," Sam said, causing me to scowl. Why wouldn't she? I'm a much better mother than _her_. Ian doesn't even wear antibacterial diapers! And she never keeps a clean place when I'm there for my surprise visits!

"Why not?"

"He's my baby!" she yelled.

"There is no need to shout!"

"Then why are you trying to take my baby away from me?"

"I'm not!"

"Then why are you talking about taking in Ian without me?"

"Stop it!" Freddie said. "Mom, please. Sam needs a place to stay too. With us."

I pursed my lips. I did not like the sound of this. "Fine."

"Mom if it makes you feel better I'll sleep on the couch while Sam takes my old room with Ian. Okay?"

"Okay." I sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam's POV

"Did you hear her? _Here_? And _fine_?" I said to Freddie as we were driving back to our old apartment to get our stuff in our shared beaten up car.

"Sam…"

"God but can you believe her? Trying to take away my own baby from me?"

"Sam she wasn't trying to-."

"Don't you go defending Crazy in front of me now Benson!" I said.

"Can't you two just get along? For once? Seeing as we're going to be living with her, you guys should try to at least tolerate each other."

"I was all for trying to tolerate each other before she went saying that she wanted me to give my baby over to her."

"She just…" Freddie had a hard time coming up with something to defend his mother with. Probably cause he knew she was being a snobby bitch. "Sam just please. She's your son's grandmother. Just try not to… you know…"

"No I don't know Freddie why don't you tell me?" I shot at him.

"Just please try to get along. If for not my sake, for Ian's sake. I don't want him growing up with a mother who hates his grandma."

"He'll already have one grandma to hate…" I mumbled but Freddie heard it.

"Your mom. Well she actually was a bitch to kick you out and cut you out of her life like that but… think about this: my mom, who I'll admit was completely overprotective and crazy at times, she helped us out. And she's helping us out now."

"Fine," I said as we pulled into the street where the shabby apartment building was. I looked at the backseat to see Ian playing blissfully with his "organic" and "anti-germ" stuffed dinosaur.

We put together the crib in silence in Freddie's old room while Mrs. Benson doted over Ian in the front room.

"Poor Ian will never be the same after all this exposure," I whispered to Freddie who only rolled his eyes.

"She is suffocating our child."

"He enjoys it," Freddie whispered back.

"How do you know? He can't speak. Has he spoken to you?" Freddie rolled his eyes again.

I just glared at him. He had _definitely_ gotten braver since Ian was born. I marched out of the room to get my baby and leave Freddie to finish the crib himself. Just then I heard the phone ring.

"I'll get it," Mrs. Benson said, handing Ian over to me with a little smile at him. "Hello?" she answered the phone. "Oh hello Carly. How's college… Oh that's wonderful," she sighed. "Oh sure. She's right here."

Mrs. Benson made me hand Ian over first before she handed me the phone.

"Hey Carls," I said. "How'd you know I'd be here?"

"Freddie called earlier. He told me about you guys moving into his mom's. How's that going?"

"It's going, I guess," I looked over at where Mrs. Benson was and she was stiffing Ian. She then got up to probably change him. She took him into Freddie's old room to get the diapers and maybe change him in there.

"You haven't killed each other yet so that's good," Carly said.

"Yeah…" I said.

"So how's the University of Washington?"

"Great." She said. "I'm going to see Spencer and Mary this weekend. Is it okay if I come over there too?"

"Of course, yeah. You know how Ian feels about his aunt Carly."

"Good," I heard her smile through the phone. "Is Ian walking yet?"

"No, he's still falling down. I kind of want to push him down because, I hate to say it, but it makes me kind of… you know… to think that my little boy is growing up."

"Easy, imagine what you're going to be like when he starts going to school."

"Yeah I know. God, I'm such a pansy."

"No, you're a mom. That's normal, I think."

"So how's Gibby?" I said teasingly.

"He's good," she said. "How's your boy?"

"Ugh."

"What's the matter?"

"Just little fights and stuff."

"But that's normal for you two? What's so bad about it?"

"I don't know." I lowered my voice. "It's just I thought we were getting better but… whatever I don't care."

"Yes you do."

"Ugh."

"Well are you okay?"

"Yeah I guess so. It's just," I looked behind me at the open door. "I'll tell you when you come over."

"Okay?" she said. "Well I got to go revise an essay due next week. Bye Sam."

"Bye Carly." I said and put the phone down on the receiver.


	4. Chapter 4

Mrs. Benson's POV

"There we go!" I said to Ian. "A nice, clean, anti-bacterial diaper!" Ian was smiling so maybe he understood the importance of cleanliness (unlike his mother who uses normal store-brand diapers).

"Ouch!" I heard Freddie exclaim.

"What's the matter?" I said immediately.

"Nothing just got my finger with one of those snap in thingies," he said putting his finger in his mouth.

"Freddie, don't do that! That's disgusting! Here let me see," I went over to him.

"No, mom, you just worry about Ian okay?"

"But-."

"Mom, I'm an adult now. Just worry about the baby."

"Fine," I said in a strained voice to make it known to him that I was upset. I went over to Ian who was reaching for me. I picked him up in my arms and turned to watch what Freddie was doing.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

"No, mom," he said.

"Well shouldn't Sam be helping you?"

"Probably but isn't she talking to Carly?"

"Talking to friends is no excuse when your baby has no place to sleep yet!"

"Mom…" he sighed. "Please just _try_ to get along with Sam. She knows that I can do this. I think I remember from the last time we set this up."

"I still think-."

"Please mom." Freddie looked up at me. "Just try."

"Fine." Just then, Sam came into the room.

"Carly's coming over this weekend," she announced, grabbing Ian from me and sitting on the bed.

"Really?" Freddie said. "How is she?"

"She's good," Sam said.

"How's college?" he asked.

"Good apparently." She said.

College… I thought about as they continued their conversation about how Carly was doing. But I didn't want to think about it for too long because then I would become sad again and Freddie would ask me what was wrong and I would have to lie to my baby boy. I know he was really disappointed that he couldn't go to MIT after Sam told him about the pregnancy and I didn't want him feeling any worse.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I heard Ian start crying. "Looks like someone's hungry," Sam said and she got up to get him a bottle. I couldn't believe she weaned him from breast-feeding at four and a half months! She said that she needed to stop having to "_milk herself_" at work every two hours. I continued breast-feeding Freddie until he was about a year and look how smart he is! Well… I guess… never mind.

"Ouch!" Freddie said again when he tried to lock in one of those things.

"Freddie! Are you sure that thing's safe?"

"Don't worry mom, once this thing is put up, it will be sturdier than a bridge… Ow!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sam's POV

Ian was crying again for the millionth time this morning and it was only 4 AM. Freddie was getting ready to work the early shift so that he would be home before Carly leaves that day.

I shushed in his ear a bit but finally Freddie had to take him and put him back to sleep. God, I felt so inadequate. What's a mother who can't put her baby to sleep?

Freddie saw my disappointment and smiled softly. "You'll be able to put him to sleep one day."

"Yeah, when he's seventeen probably," I said as I got back into the bed.

"You'll be able to-," he said as he looked at his watch. "I got to get going to work. Bye Sam." He said, giving me a quick kiss.

"Bye Freddie," I sighed and closed my eyes.

I woke up to the sound of Ian crying. I looked at the clock and noticed that it was ten-thirty. I hopped out of bed as soon as I saw that, wondering how long Ian had been crying for me. I felt like such a horrible mother.

I took him in my arms as he cried. I tried to soothe him while I left the room. As I was about to go into the kitchen, I almost ran into Mrs. Benson walking out with a bottle in her hand.

"Ah!" Mrs. Benson and I were both surprised by each other.

"Well there you are! I was wondering! Ian had been crying for almost two minutes!" she said.

"I was getting his bottle now," I tried going past her to get in the kitchen.

"I have a bottle here-." She said.

"I'll give him another-."

"But why? I have a perfectly good, healthy-."

"I really don't think that 'healthy' stuff is really good for him."

"What? The tests show that-."

"I'll just get him another."

"Take this one!" she demanded, not letting me pass by her.

"I don't think-." We were interrupted by a knock on the door. I didn't know what else to do so I handed Ian over to Mrs. Benson who started to feed him that healthy crap.

I opened the door to reveal Carly, a little earlier than expected.

"Hey Sam!" Carly hugged me immediately. "Sorry I'm a bit early. Is it okay?"

"Yeah sure," I said even though I was screaming in my head wishing that she had arrived late. My hair was probably a mess and I was in my pajamas with no makeup, no cover up on my face that has aged significantly since I had Ian. Freddie's has too.

"Where's Ian?" she asked. Carly loved Ian with all her heart. She was like an unofficial aunt or something.

"He's over there," I pointed to Mrs. Benson feeding my child whatever organic crap was in the "organically made" bottle.

She immediately went over to him and started petting his brown hair while he suckled on the bottle. Sometimes I wondered if she thought babies were like dogs and that they wanted to be petted.

"Hey little guy," she said to him. "Hello Mrs. Benson."

"Hello Carly," Freddie's mom had sure taken more of a liking to Carly ever since she started focusing all her energy on hating me. And there's also the fact that she would much rather have Carly for her grandson's mother than me.

"How's the job hunt Sam?" Carly asked me when we got into the room that Ian and I shared while Freddie had to sleep on the couch.

I shrugged, "no one's hiring Carly. I've been trying, looking all over but every time I find some place, they want someone with higher credentials and all that stuff."

"I'm sorry Sam."

"It's okay I guess. I just wish that I could find a job so that I can start saving up for Ian's college. He may be only seven months old but he's going to be a smart kid. I can feel it."

"Well I'm sure Mrs. Benson will help you out seeing as Freddie… well…"

"Yeah," I sighed, thinking of something that I had discovered last night. "Carly? Can I tell you something?"

"Of course." She scowled.

"I found something in that stupid jewelry box Freddie still has for some reason."

"What did you find?"

"His acceptance letter to MIT."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" I said. I suddenly felt uncomfortable with the girl who I had been comfortable with all my life.

"Well… Sam… you can't change it. And you know Freddie loves Ian with all his heart-."

"But… he could have been so much more than just a factory worker… while I would probably be stuck here. Sometimes I wonder if he resents me for not getting the abortion."

"Sam. You can't think that way. I'm sure Freddie understands."

"Yeah…"

"I'm sure he does and I'm sure he's just as happy as he would have been if he went to MIT if not happier. He has a family now."

"He could have had a family later. Not just a forged family made just after we graduated high school."

"Sam… you can't change anything."

"I know. I just- I just wish he wouldn't have made the choice to stay. Maybe then I'd feel less guilty."

Carly was just about to say something when I heard Ian crying from the other room. I immediately got up to get him.


End file.
